Clothes-line support.



P. S. STANULIFF.

GLOTHES LINE SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED OO'I. 5, 1910.

Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

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PETER S. STANCLIFF, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

CLOTHES-LINE SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

Application filed October 5, 1910. Serial No. 585,362.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER S. STANOLIFF, a citizen of the United States, residing Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements. in Clothes-Line Supports; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled 1n the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

In supporting and using clothes lines the usual familiar difliculties encountered are that the line must be stretched high enough to keep the wet clothes from touching the earth. Now, if the line be stretched tightly it is so high that it is diificult to reach it. If-to avoid this trouble-the line be put up loosely so that it can be easily reached it becomes necessary to use a clothes prop or pole to keep the clothes off the ground.

My invention relates to devices for overcoming the difiiculties here indicated, and is designed, more particularly, to provide a clothes-line support by means of which the line may be lowered to receive the clothes and which may then be raised and stretched taut to hold the clothes away from the earth without the use of props or the like.

A further object of my invention is to arrange the clothes-line and its support in such fashion that the line may be readily doubled to give it additional strength, and lowered as near the ground as may be necessary for the reception of heavy bedding, mattresses, carpets, rugs and the like, and then, with but slight effort, lifted to the desired height.

I attain these objects by means of the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and shown and illustrated in the acompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of mydevice partly in section, and Fig. 2, a sldeelevation of a portion of one of the posts, hereinafter referred to, viewed from the side opposite the point of view in Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 1 and 2 are posts of suitable height, each carrying at its top a fixed cross-arm 3-4. These posts and crossarms are preferably of metal tubing, but they may be of any suitable material. In case the posts require it, they may be strengthened in the direction of the strain upon them by means of trusses or braces 5. The posts may be set in the ground or in concrete or held in upright position in any preferred manner, but I have illustrated a useful method of supporting the upright posts which permits the posts to be taken down and replaced, if necessary.

The anchorage referred to consists of a flat plate 6 buried in horizontal position a suitable depth in the ground with the earth tamped upon it and having two brace-rods leading upwardly to another horizontal fiat plate buried a short distance below the surface of the ground. To this upper plate 7 the foot of the post is bolted or otherwise removably secured.

The cross-arm 3 is provided at or near each end with a hook 8. The cross-arm 4 is provided with a series of hooks 9,i n the present instance, five in number,disposed at about equi-distant intervals from one end of the arm to the other. 10 is a detached bar provided with a series of hooks 11,-in the present instance, three in number,extending toward the cross-arm 4. From this detached cross-arm leads a rope, band, chain or the like, 12, to the post 1 at or near its top and thence down to a Windlass 13 mounted in or upon the post and provided with a hand-crank 14 and a pawl and ratchet 15 to prevent the accidental reverse movement of the Windlass. A clothes-line 16 is looped or otherwise secured at one end to one of the hooks 8 and passes over two of the hooks 9 nearest the corresponding end of the cross-arm 4, thence through the several hooks on the cross-arm 10, as indicated by the dotted line, thence through the two hooks nearest the other end of the cross-arm 4, and thence to the hook 8 at the end of the cross-arm 3 opposite the place of beginning. If preferred, the rope may be made in two lengths, as illustrated in the drawing, with their ends opposite the hooks '8 secured to the outer hooks 11 on the arm 10. In practice, I prefer the single length of rope, but shorter pieces may be utilized in the manner indicated-in solid linesin the drawing.

When the Windlass is unwound, the several stretches of the clothes-line will sag so that they may be readily reached by the laundress. When the lines are filled, the crank is turned, to wind up the rope 12, and the several stretches of clothes-line are drawn taut and into substantially horizontal position, the pawl and ratchet preventing the reverse movement of the windlass. When it is desired to remove the clothes from the line, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet and the Windlass is unwound sufficiently to bring the clothes down within convenient reach.

In case it is desired to hang heavy bedding or carpets or rugs upon the line, the line is looped over the middle hook 9 instead of the two pairs of outer hooks 9 and is also looped or secured to the middle hook 11 on the bar 10. It will be seen that now the clothes-line leading from the central hook 11 to the central hook 9 is doubled and is thus fitted to bear the heavier weights to be imposed upon it and that the heavy articles referred to may be easily lifted upon the doubled rope and raised with but slight effort from the ground as high or nearly as high as the top of the posts by means of the Windlass, operated as described.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s,

1. In a device of the described character,

a pair of posts carrying opposed fixed crossarms, a detached cross-arm, a Windlass supported by one of said posts, connections between the detached arm and said Windlass,

and a clothes-line leading from one fixed cross-arm to the other, and thence to the detached arm, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the described character, a pair of posts carrying at their upper ends a pair of opposed cross-arms, on one of said cross-arms a pair of hooks, on the other cross-arm a series of hooks, a detached cross-arm having a series of hooks, said several hooks being adapted to support a series of stretches of clothes-line, a Windlass supported by one of the posts, and flexible connections between said detached arm and said windlass.

3. In a device of the described character, a pair of posts having fixed thereon opposed cross-arms, a detached crossarm, means upon said several cross-arms for engagement with a series of stretches of clothes-line, and means,which connect one of the posts and the detached cr0ssarm, for drawing the detached cross-arm toward said post.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PETER S. STANCLIFF.

Witnesses WM. C. BINNs, LEONA KIBWETZ.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

